


forever came today

by orphan_account



Series: The Bartender AU [1]
Category: Little Mix (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2014-02-11
Packaged: 2018-01-11 22:40:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1178809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Jade is definitely not lonely, Leigh-Anne is not pining, and Jesy is far, far too cool to possibly be real.</p>
            </blockquote>





	forever came today

"There's no way we're going halfway across town to some shitty little student pub just because pitchers are two quid off. We'll pay that anyway for the fare!" Leigh-anne's voice is tinny coming from Jade's phone speakers. "You're the only one of the four of us who lives out that way, can't we just go to the Eagle to celebrate? You know Zayn's had his eye on the bartender there for a week."

Jade laughs, nervously. "I mean, it's a nice pub anyway, and I just thought a change of scenery might be nice for us. We always go to the same place, and who knows? Zayn might find someone who peaks his interest here too."

Immediately, she hears Leigh's intake of breath. She doesn't need to go to the Spoke if they don't want to, it would just save her a trip by herself later in the week.

Leigh laughs, and Jade prepares herself for the questions. "Jade Amelia Thirlwall, have you finally found someone who interests you? It's about time! It's a good thing you're adorable, of I'd smack you for not telling me earlier."

"There's nothing to tell," Jade says, even though her insides have gone all fluttery just from thinking about it. She hasn't known Leigh for very long, but they're becoming fast friends. Leigh is the most perceptive person she's ever met, and sometimes she forgets that it's difficult to keep things from her.

"You're such a liar, but it's okay. I'll convince the guys, and tonight we'll see about this crush of yours. Should I come over before? I have your copy of the grade, and I don't want to bring it to the pub because after the last time I'm not letting Niall near any of my work," Leigh chuckles. Jade's known Niall for just over a year, and even though she loves him dearly, she's not letting him ruin this moment for her. A beer-soaked certificate hanging on her wall would be difficult to explain to her mom when she visits. "Does my place at 5 work for you then? We'll meet at mine, and walk to the pub - it's only a 10 minute walk from here."

~~

The cold air hits them as they make their way across the street, and Jade shivers. Leigh didn't follow her own instructions to "put on something revealing babe, trust me you'll be hard to ignore" and Jade finds herself eyeing the sweater and jeans combination with envy. "Let me go back and change, this is a low-key pub and I'll look like a right idiot," she pleads. "I can't feel my arms." Her hair is tousled and down, a change from her usual messy ponytail, and it's the only shelter her shoulders have.  
Wearing a sleeveless see-through button-down, agonizingly tight jeans, and red high heels is not weather-appropriate in the least, and she had protested when Leigh picked out her clothes. Stumbling because she's never learned to wear heels properly (which, if she manages to get this business degree, she's going to have to correct), she sighs loudly to grab Leigh's attention.

"You haven't tried to pull anyone since the first day we met, have you forgotten that it takes effort?" Leigh glances over and rolls her eyes, taking pity once she notices Jade's goosebumps. Reaching for her hand, she lets Jade lean on her. "We're only a block away from the pub, and it'll be warm and stuffy inside. You can get your hot apple cider or whatever weird concoction you force the bartender to make, and you’ll be ready to go in no time."

When they reach the Spoke, it takes a couple minutes for Jade's eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. She's only been here once before in the previous week, and nothing much has changed since then. The dark wooden tables and chairs in the front and booths in the back are packed with more people, but other than that it looks exactly the same. There are a couple groups of students and a long table of men in jerseys, and Jade is reminded of home and the loud celebrations every Thursday when the local pub team would drink themselves into a stupour regardless of their match results. Suddenly homesick, she shakes her head and tries not to think about it. Looking around, she doesn't understand why there are so many people in here on a Tuesday evening - surely a small discount won't have attracted this many people?

Leigh immediately spots a shock of blonde hair near the back, and pulls Jade over to the circular booth. "Take a seat guys! We've been here for half an hour already, what the hell took you so long?" The other two members of their group, Niall and Zayn, are nursing pints - clearly not their first, if the empty glasses beside them are any indication. Leigh pulls them both in for a hug, and turns to Jade. "Would you be a dear and go get us some drinks? Just a pint for me, and maybe some snacks for the table?" Leaning in, Jade feels her warm breath on her ear as she whispers, "If it's the bartender wiping glasses, you're in luck - she hasn't stopped staring at you since we walked in."

And, well. Jade has to work on controlling herself, because she spins around and almost elbows a man at the next table. She really has got to stop blushing so much; it's getting to be a problem - especially when she sees what the bartender is wearing tonight. She clears her throat nervously, but before the dark-haired woman can make her way over a perky blonde pops up from behind the bar.

"Hi there! What can I get for you tonight?" Jade is instantly thrown off by that accent, and stares at the woman in front of her.

"Are you from Newcastle?" She's not usually the type of person to make uncomfortable small talk with strangers, but it's been so long since she's talked face-to-face with someone from the northeast. She probably has to work on her bluntness too, if she's being honest. It's put people off before, but the blonde doesn't seem fazed.

"Around there, yeah! South Shields, actually. You're from there too, right? Thank god, I haven't heard a familiar accent in months. I'm Perrie, by the way. Sorry if that's awkward to say, we used to have nametags but a couple guys got a bit too friendly with Jesy over there. She didn't need any protecting, took one of them out with an elbow to the groin, but the manager just thought it'd be easier if we could decide who addressed us by name."

Jade looks at where Perrie is guesturing, and sure enough, Jesy is the one she's been flustered about. Distracted by the dark wine-coloured hair and big eyes, she can't believe it's taken her this long to notice the studded belt, tattoos, and plaid pants. She's intimidated, for the first time - what if Jesy's some kind of badass punk goddess? Her uncanny ability to recite all of Sade's LPs by heart, including track titles and length, wouldn't hold much of a candle to loud bass and screaming guitars.

Turning back to Perrie, she notices the blonde's wide smile. "Have you been in here before, by any chance? Only, you look sorta familiar but I can't place it."

"I was in here around this time last week? But someone else was tending to the bar," Jade says, shifting from one foot to the other. God, these heels are killing her. The next thing she's getting with her biweekly paycheck is a foot massage - standing for hours taking coffee orders is definitely going to affect her ability to walk when she's seventy. Probably. "Maybe you saw me around in South Shields?"

"That might be it!" Perrie lets out a chuckle and casts a look over to Jade's table. "So, what can I get you today, nameless stranger from the North?"

"Oh right, sorry about that! I'm Jade, and er - I'll have two pints of lager, whatever you have on tap, and some chips." Leigh is smirking over at her, and judging by the guys' matching grins she's told them Jade's reason for coming here. She really does have to get better friends.

~~

As it turns out, Perrie's shift ends an hour later and she invites herself to join Jade's group. Their table is filled with empty glasses and ink, because of course Zayn's obsession with doodling is exacerbated by alcohol. She and Leigh both have sloppy makeshift tattoos on their forearms in a matter of minutes - slightly badass, Jade thinks, grudgingly. She's never seen the appeal of tattoos until now, never understood how some people could commit to something like that. But then again, she has had a Tamagotchi for 13 years, so maybe she kind of gets it.

Jade sits and chats with the others for a while, half of her mind on the debate at hand ("Listen, there's no way you're from the north and support the fucking Mancs okay have some respect" "Oh you're one to talk, an Irishman supporting Derby? You're having a laugh") and half on how to ask Perrie for her friend's number. Maybe she can slowly insert herself into their friend group until Jesy starts to notice her, and they'll be the pair that people make crude remarks about and joke about why they aren't together yet. That might be nice, to have a relationship that starts from friendship for once, because fuck knows that Tom had been a complete disaster.

Motion catches Jade's eye as a figure steps out from behind the bar, and her heart starts beating faster. Maybe Jesy's shift has ended early, and surely Perrie will introduce them. Jade closes her eyes to focus on staying calm, controlling her nerves. Perhaps a little liquid courage will do the trick.

She's almost done the glass in front of her when she hears someone clearing their throat into a microphone. Turning, her mouth falls open when she registers what's happening on the bar's tiny stage.

"Hi, my name is Jesy, and this is my band. Welcome to another live music night!"

~~

Jade shifts from foot to foot as she waits for an opportunity to use the sink. She'd escaped to the toilets after Jesy's set, in need of some cold water and a serious reevaluation of her life choices. So Jesy's a singer - that's a thing. A very good thing, apparently, according to how fast her heart is racing, but her head is telling her otherwise. Their set had been amazing - soulful covers of some songs that had Leigh-Anne and Zayn belting along, and a couple original ones. They were met with raucous applause, cementing the fact that Jesy is probably far too cool to be caught dead with someone like Jade, who doesn't even know the names of any popular bands from the last five years.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea - she doesn't even know if Jesy's gay, and she could just be embarrassing herself if she asks. It's horrible to even think about the fact that rejection will have her immobile for days, she'd sworn not to get this worked up over someone after Nina in freshman year. And at least she'd spoken to her (once) - for all she knows, Jesy could have an awful personality trait that turns her off completely. There's no use even trying, really. She'll just go home like always, cuddle with her cat, and try not to think about dying alone. Excellent plan, overall.

Splashing water on her face, she grins. Leigh-Anne is going to kill her for ruining her makeup, but she thinks she looks good like this. Content, and maybe a little tired, it makes her blend in, at least. She'll hold her head up, try to push out the image of Jesy naked with a guitar that's been circling round in her head for half an hour, and go out and drink as much as humanly possible. Oh, and coax Perrie into telling her if Jesy likes girls.

Sometime during the next hour, in the middle of another heated discussion about digital art versus more traditional forms (this is what she gets for doing a business project with a bunch of arts majors, and it's a miracle they were able to turn in their study on time at all), she realizes how lucky she is. Niall's infectious laughter and Perrie's bright smile are keeping everyone in good spirits, and she just really fucking loves her friends. She'd thought, once she'd accepted the full ride business scholarship, that it'd be all work and serious people and cases, cases, cases. It's stressful, yes, but not nearly as bad as she anticipated. And in the past year and a half, she's managed to carve out her own group of humanities and biz friends, and she's grateful for every single one of them.

"Who would win in a fight - Darth Vader or Miley Cyrus?""

Well. Most of the time.

~~

Jade wakes up in the morning in a pair of Niall's old sweatpants to the sound of banging in the kitchen. Judging by the smells coming from outside her door he's attempting (and failing) to make them both breakfast. That's the thing about fucking Niall - he's always so goddamn nice. He really does deserve someone amazing, and her heart hurts a little at the thought that this friends-with-benefit thing they have going on might be getting in the way of it. She'll ask him about it later, she decides, see if she can set him up with someone who can give him a proper, real relationship. The light from the wide-open curtains covering the window means it's probably around noon, which is far too early for any sane person to be functional. The promise of slightly burned bacon and eggs is enough to make anyone get up, though, and even Jade's still-queasy stomach grumbles.

"And how are you this fine morning, my love?" Niall grins into her greeting hug.

Jade pinches his ass. "Settle down, Ni, I'm definitely not your love. Although if you ever manage to make me perfect scrambled eggs, I could probably be persuaded."

"Hey now," he pouts. "Just because some people like their eggs-"

"Edible?"

"I was gonna say crispy, you're so ungrateful," Niall laughs. "We're still cool though, yeah?" he adds, biting on his lip uncertainly.

Jade rolls her eyes - they go through this every single time, and the answer's always the same. "Of course, babe, of course we're still good. We'll always be good."

Niall's cheeks are flushed. "Great, good, excellent. Just checking, because Leigh mentioned something about a bartender last night and if you want to talk about it, you know, I'm always an ear. Well, two, really, but. The principle's the same."

"It's nothing, really" Jade says, biting down into her bacon. This is definitely going to require a gallon of ketchup. "In over my head, as usual, drowning my inadequacy in beer and comfort sex with you, again as usual."

"Anyone I should beat up for you?"

Laughing, she playfully punches his arm. "Yeah, as if you could beat anyone up for me. Nah, I reckon this one could probably take you, seems like she incapacitated a creep the other night for getting too close."

Whistling, Niall happily shovels his eggs down his throat. "She definitely sounds out of your league, love," he says as he eyes her carefully. "You sure you know what you're doing?"

Nope. Not at all. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I hope."

She is so fucked.

Sometime in the next hour, as they scrape charred dairy products from Jade's pans (well, technically they're Leigh's, and that's going to be another issue she'll have to deal with today - Leigh hates anyone messing with her kitchen), they talk. This thing has been going on for about a month now, sparked by drunken lamenting about the lack of sex both of them were getting, and it's the first time in a couple weeks that they've really fleshed it out. Turns out Niall's been harbouring a secret crush on a barista at his local coffee shop, and with Jade's prodding he decides to ask them out.

"So this is over, then?" he asks, slightly morosely. "Shame, don't think I'll find anyone else as willing to put up with my bullshit in bed ever again."

"Definitely over - although, if you ever do manage to find someone who will actually roleplay Justin & Selena with you without laughing it off five minutes in, I definitely have to meet them," Jade adds, amused. 

"Ohmygod, that was one time!," he laughs, bringing her close for one last hug. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah - don't forget and sleep in! You know Prof. Smeltsser won't let you off again!" she calls after him, shutting the door. Glancing around her room, she breathes deeply. The quiet is welcoming, and she looks down at her cat's empty water bowl. She loves having Wednesdays off, it's her designated Corrie and pet snuggling day, and Leigh always cooks them dinner after her class ends at 4. She'll deal with the Jesy problem later - for now, Corrie beckons.

~~

"Oi! You there! You dropped your glove." Jade sighs as she turns around, not meeting the eye of the runner who'd picked it up.

"Thanks, you didn't have to," she says, flushing. Keeping her head down, she's realized, is the key to successfully walking her cat. It's not every day people see a cat on a leash, and the less attention they attract, the better. She should smile at this woman, though, thank her properly.

Looking up, she's startled to find a familiar, amused expression staring back at her. "Jes-er, hi. Um. Thank you. For the glove." Now is not the best time to stammer, but she really can't help it - what the fuck is happening.

"How did you know my name?" is the reply, a hint of a smile playing around the corners of Jesy's mouth.

"I, er, know your friend! Perrie! We met the other night, and she might have mentioned you. I'm not a creep, I swear," Jade says, haltingly.

Laughing, Jesy gives her a smile. "You could have just said you saw me introduce my band, you know. Saved you the trouble."

Oh. Right. That would have made much more sense.

"Is that - a cat?? From far away, I thought you were walking a hairy dog, but...that's a cat." The confusion is clear in Jesy's voice, and Jade smiles ruefully. No one ever knows what to say when this happens, and usually their questions annoy her. Jesy, though, is somehow nonjudgemental and sincere in her incredulity, and Jade is so, so fucked.

"Yeah, um, I read a couple years ago that it's supposed to be healthy for inactive cats to be walked every now and then, so. I trained Diana here a few months ago, and she actually enjoys it now," she says.

"Your cat's name is Diana, like, the princess?" Jesy asks, wrinkling her nose. "Isn't that a bit...ominous?"

"No, no - Diana as in Diana Ross," Jade hurriedly explains. "Her name was originally Ross, because screw the gender binary, but people kept asking if she liked dinosaurs and tumultuous relationships so I had to change it." Great, now she'll think Jade is a complete moron.

"You're that much of a Diana Ross fan, then?" is the reply, curious.

"Of course! She was so influential, so important, so fabulous, so talented, so smart -" Trailing off, Jade's smile dims. Maybe that wasn't the best thing to mention, because Jesy is so damn /cool/ she probably hates Jade's taste. Looking up at her, though, her flushed and sweaty amd smiling face, she just might forgive that - and that's the scariest part of all.

"I completely and totally agree, she's the bomb. We even covered Hot Stuff a few weeks ago, the crowd loved it!"

And, WOW. That's definitely not an image she needed in her brain. At all. Ever. Shifting her legs uncomfortably, Jade tries not to propose then and there. "I would have loved to have seen that, ohmygod. Not that your set last week wasn't amazing, or anything, but - Diana."

"Speaking of which, she seems to be getting annoyed that I'm keeping you so long," Jesy says, gesturing towards Jade's traitor of a cat who is currently scratching at her leg. She's so not getting salmon tonight.

"Yeah, I should probably get going, and I don't want to keep you from your run - but, um, I guess I'll see you around?" Jade asks, crossing her fingers behind her back. Jesy doesn't have to know that she was planning on hanging around the bar tomorrow, right? She twists her arms back around to her front, nervously posturing them on her hip.

"You should definitely come by for live music night again next week, I'd love to see you there - same time, same place?" Jesy grins, hopeful. The look on her face should be illegal, and it's not fair that she can be so hot and have a pout that makes Jade want to fling herself off a building. Or down a well, anything that'll do the trick.

"I guess I'll see you then, Jade?" Jesy smiles, kindly not mentioning the lack of response, and Jade blinks, startled.

"Um, yeah - what? I'll see you then, then. I guess - " Jesy is already running off, her long ponytail swaying from side to side down the street. And she really shouldn't be finding running so attractive - she abhors even the thought of exercise, she gets enough from lugging her books back and forth from the library every day, but somehow the thought flits across her mind that if she got to run with Jesy, she might not mind it at all.

It takes her the entire walk home, feeding Diana, and half a tournament of MarioKart later to realize that she never told Jesy her name.

~~

_hey so I was wondering if leigh likes daisies at all let me know asap k? thanks luv youuuuuu!! xxx pez_

Frowning at her phone, Jade takes another sip of her too-cold coffee. It's been a few days since she's heard from Perrie, after the disaster of an evening out they'd attempted last week. Leigh and Zayn had gotten into an argument on the way to the pub, Jade unable to diffuse tensions due to horrific period cramps, and to top it all off Niall had ditched them mysteriously after a text he wouldn't let anyone else see. Perrie did not take well to being stood up (and Jade resolutely had not asked after Jesy, sure she'd screwed everything up the next morning), so the text currently illuminating her screen was a surprise to say the least.

_she loves them, why? Also hi haven't heard from you for a while thought you were still mad_

The next reply comes instantaneously, and Jade suspects Perrie has had it written out for a while.

_no reason at all just curious and yeah I'm still mad I had to deal with sarcastic drunk fuckers and no friends to keep me company but I've decided to forgive you, at least you had a reason_

Jade really shouldn't be doing this, but she knocks on Leigh's door anyway. "Babe, you in there? I need your advice on something important." The door bursts open, and she's met with Leigh's brightest smile.

"I'm here! Whatever you need, dear." Leigh-Anne's best (and worst) trait has always been her complete willingness to drop everything to help her friends, and while sometimes it can grate on Jade's nerves (there was absolutely no way she had needed to come along on Jade's second date with Marcus the Stock Broker, for all his creepiness and awful onion breath), it's an excellent way to coax her out of her studying cocoon. She can never resist giving advice, and Jade loves her a little bit.

"Well, I was hoping you could tell me why Perrie got so upset with us last week. And I made you tea."

The door, as expected, slams in her face. It opens again seconds later, revealing a sheepish-looking Leigh-Anne with a nervous smile. "Sorry about that, I just - don't really want to talk about it. It's all so confusing to me, and I'd much rather just...not." A puppy-eyed look comes across her face, and Leigh bends over, gravitating towards the mug in Jade's hands. Jade catches herself staring down her flatmate's shirt, and. Well.

"Don't worry, you can look all you like," Leigh whispers, a smirk on her lips. "It's nothing you haven't seen before."

Which, okay. She didn't need the reminder of that, because it's been more than a week since she'd broken it off with Niall, she's seen Jesy since then, and she hasn't had time to take care of herself, which has all led to an extremely frustrated past couple days. So frustrated, in fact, that she's contemplating initiating something with Leigh again tonight - as dramatic as their brief fling had been, and as complicated as any other dalliances are sure to be, she just really, really, _really_ needs to get off.

"I can hear what you're thinking babe, and the answer's no." Looking up again, Jade is startled to see that Leigh's moved into their kitchen and is currently banging pots around. "There's a reason we set up that rule, and besides - both of us have other, um, interests now."

"That's why Perrie was upset, wasn't it?? You two had something planned and you didn't tell me?" She fights off the slight ache in her chest; there's a reason why her and Leigh hadn't lasted, but it's easy to forget sometimes. It would just be so convenient if they could make it work, but scarily similar personalities don’t always lead to sexual chemistry. 

“We were supposed to meet up and be alone that night, but I got anxious and wanted to leave – then Zayn got mad, started ranting about how flaky I am, and I left.”

Jade gapes at her. “But you like Perrie! I thought you did, at least.”

Leigh shrugs, a small frown on her face. “I think…maybe a bit too much? I feel like if I get any closer to her, I’ll either fall really hard or stop liking her and I couldn’t deal with either.”

They should just start a club, at this point. Bending down to pick up the cat, Jade cocks an eyebrow at Leigh-Anne. She knows Leigh’s had commitment issues in the past, but it’s never occurred to her how much. “So you’re going to avoid her forever? She’ll notice something, she’s not stupid.”

Leigh’s cheeks turn red but her eyes are determined. “She’ll get over it, and then we can just work on being friends without all the messy stuff.”

“…okay, if you’re sure?”

“It’s better this way, I promise.”

~~

Jade has work after class the next day, but she’d already called her boss and let her know she’d be late. Her prof refuses to let her out of class early, but her boss is used to less-than-punctual behaviour from her mostly-student work force. 

Her hat gets blown off as she’s running to the bus stop, and she watches with dismay as the bus slowly pulls away from the sidewalk without her. The winter boots she’s wearing are heavy on her feet as she drags herself to the shelter – maybe she can squeeze some change from her next paycheck to buy herself some better ones.

“In a rush somewhere?”

Whirling around, Jade is greeted with Jesy’s smiling face. Great. There’s no way she’ll be any less than half an hour late now, she can never seem to stop talking when she’s around Jesy.

“Work, but the next bus doesn’t come for another ten minutes. What are you up to?”

Jesy’s smile gets even brighter. “I was having coffee with a friend, and Leigh-Anne told me you’d probably be late for work – and I have a car, so I thought I’d offer you a lift.”

Jade looks at her, speechless. “You’re a student, how do you have a car?”

“It’s actually my boss’s, but he lets me use it for deliveries. Louis’ good like that,” Jesy grins fondly.

“In that case, I’d love a ride!” Jade exclaims, drowning out her mom’s voice in her head telling her not to get into a car with strangers. She never said anything about hot strangers though, so she figures there are different rules.

“Woah steady on, that wasn’t quite on offer – although I could be persuaded,” Jesy smirks, looking Jade up and down.

Fuck. Jade’s never been that good at banter, Leigh’s much quicker than she is, and words don’t seem to be coming out of her mouth.

“Um,” she starts to say, but Jesy is already whizzing past her chuckling. 

As soon as she gets in the car, Jade turns to Jesy and asks, “So how did you know my name?”

Jesy falters a little, but her expression smoothes as she replies, “Leigh-Anne mentioned you once, that’s all. I put the face and the name together myself.”

Jade raises her eyebrows. “Are you sure that’s all it was?”

Rolling her eyes dramatically, Jesy lets out a huff and keeps her eyes on the road, focused on pulling out of her parking space. Jade can see a small smile at the corner of her mouth though, and she suddenly feels shyer than she has in months.  
It’s possible that she may be rushing into things - although, if looking at her past can tell her anything, maybe some spontaneity wouldn’t be so bad. It’s also possible that, despite her better judgement, she’s already thinking about introducing Jesy to her family – but she’s keeping that to herself. She’s not the type of person to plan out her future, but there’s something about the way Jesy is humming along to the Runaways, that makes her think that maybe. Maybe this is it. 

Surprisingly, she’s okay with that.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is, obviously, from the Diana Ross song of the same name. 
> 
> I started writing this a while ago, and it's been sitting in my drafts for ages, so I thought I'd just take the leap and post it. Completely unbeta'd, sorry :S


End file.
